3.15pm update

Trimble threatens to cripple Northern Ireland executive

Ulster Unionist ministers will withdraw from the Northern Ireland executive and then resign if a motion to exclude Sinn Fein ministers from the power-sharing government fails, David Trimble told the Stormont assembly today.

The Ulster Unionist leader outlined a phased withdrawal from the executive to force suspension of the political institutions at the start of an assembly debate to remove Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness and Bairbre de Brun from office.

Mr Trimble told the MLAs: "We will at first withdraw and then secondly the Ulster Unionist ministers will resign.

"This procedure will be followed with the objective of bringing the complete and indefinite suspension of this assembly. That I hope will be achieved in the course of a week or two," he said.

Unionist resignations next week would cripple the government and leave the British government with the choice of reviewing the accord or calling fresh elections.

Explaining the reason for the exclusion motion, Mr Trimble said republicans had had ample opportunity over the past number of years to leave their violent past behind.

In a reference to Sinn Fein's links with the IRA, he said: "The simple fact of retaining a private army in itself indicates there is not a commitment to exclusively peaceful and democratic means."

His motion is unlikely to receive the backing of republican politicians. If it fails, as is expected, Mr Trimble said Ulster Unionist ministers would withdraw from the coalition cabinet immediately before resigning next week.

The profound disagreements between Mr Trimble and the IRA over disarmament have for months threatened the future of the Stormont assembly, one of the cornerstones of the 1998 Good Friday agreement. Last month the IRA said it would intensify talks with the province's disarmament authority, but the British and Irish governments felt the offer was insufficient compared to the real goal of weapons disposal.

Earlier today SDLP minister Brid Rodgers urged unionists and republicans to abandon their confrontation for the sake of the power-sharing agreement.

Ms Rodgers warned that the expulsion of Sinn Fein could remove Northern Ireland's influence over key decisions such as reform of the common agricultural policy. The province's agriculture minister said: "It is extremely frustrating that once again we are going through a period of political instability when there are a lot of important challenges facing this executive." The assembly was today expected to spend four hours debating the exclusion motions.

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